Brabenec, Gray, DeStefano, Burdick, Cruz, Palmesano, Levenberg, Morinello, Alvarez, De Los Santos,
Reyes, Hyndman, Lunsford, Dais, Davila, Kassay, Brown K, Santabarbara, Lemondes, Colton, Hooks
MLTSPNSR
Add §§63-j, 508-d & 606-d, R & SS L
Permits an eligible retirement system member to receive, in lieu of an ordinary death benefit, a death benefit such member would otherwise be entitled to receive provided such member is a state-paid judge or justice of the unified court system or a housing judge of the civil court of the city of New York.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A10355
SPONSOR: Tapia TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
death benefits for the beneficiaries of certain members of the retire-
ment system
PURPOSE:
To ensure state-paid judges and justices receive death benefits even if
they were not retired by their time of death.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Sections 1-3: Includes new sections 63-j, 508-d, and 606-d, which
declare that state-paid judges and justices are eligible for death bene-
fits and that they would have been entitled to a service retirement
benefit by the time of death. Beneficiaries may elect to receive, in a
lump sum, an amount payable equal to the pension reserve that would have
been established had the member retired on the date of his or her death,
or the value of the death benefit and the reserve-forincreased-take-
home-pay, if any, whichever is greater.
Section 4: All past service costs associated with implementing the
provisions of this act shall be borne by the State of New York and may
be amortized over a period of ten years.
Section 5: Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary,
none of the provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation
requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
Section 6: This act shall take effect immediately.
JUSTIFICATION:
The "Death Gamble" is a draconian flaw within the retirement system for
our state-paid judges. It dictates that the beneficiaries of a judge who
either dies in office or before his or her retirement becomes effective
receive a death benefit equal to three times the judge's average salary
during his or her final three years in office. However, once a judge
reaches 60 years of age, his or her death benefit is reduced by 4% per
annum up to a maximum of 40%. In other words, the death benefit of a
judge who dies in office at the age of 70 is reduced to only 60% of
three times the judge's average salary during their final three years in
office. Neither the full nor the reduced death benefits are as generous
as the more substantial pension benefits the judge's beneficiaries would
have received had the judge passed away while retired,
As such, judges are forced to gamble that they can live long enough to
retire so that when they die, their families will be entitled to receive
an adequate pension. Unfortunately, if a judge loses the Death Gamble
and dies in office, it is the judge's family which suffers by receiving
the necessarily smaller lump sum death benefit instead of a pension. By
keeping this practice in place, we are effectively disincentivizing good
judges from continuing to deliver justice and opting for minimal cost-
saving at the expense of individuals who protect our democracy and the
integrity of the law. Legislation enacted in 2000 removed the Death
Gamble for thousands of police officers, firefighters, and teachers, but
specifically excluded members of the judiciary. Many judges enter
service later in life and are therefore more prone to the Death Gamble.
New York State judges, who are the cornerstone of our state's justice
system, should not be excluded from the benefit options available to
most other state employees. It is counterintuitive that such a workforce
should not be able to die with dignity and justice.
This bill permits an eligible retirement system member to receive, in
lieu of an ordinary death benefit, a lump sum equal to the pension
reserve that would have been established had the judge retired on the
date of his or her death. This reform is supported by the entire justice
system of New York, including bar associations and non-profit legal
service providers. Nobody should have to gamble whether to continue to
work and risk an untimely death at the expense of their beneficiaries'
financial wellbeing, especially not workers who uphold our democracy.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023: New Bill
2024: Vetoed by governor on grounds that the bill should be accounted
for in the budgetary process. Merits of the bill were left unchallenged.
2025: Vetoed by governor
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
10355
IN ASSEMBLY
February 26, 2026
___________
Introduced by M. of A. TAPIA, BRABENEC, GRAY, DeSTEFANO, BURDICK, CRUZ,
PALMESANO, LEVENBERG, MORINELLO, ALVAREZ, DE LOS SANTOS, REYES, HYND-
MAN, LUNSFORD, DAIS, DAVILA, KASSAY, K. BROWN, SANTABARBARA, LEMONDES
-- read once and referred to the Committee on Governmental Employees
AN ACT to amend the retirement and social security law, in relation to
death benefits for the beneficiaries of certain members of the retire-
ment system
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding
2 a new section 63-j to read as follows:
3 § 63-j. Death benefits for state-paid judges and justices. a. As used
4 in this section, the term "judge or justice" shall mean a state-paid
5 judge or justice of the unified court system including a retired judge
6 of the court of appeals or retired justice of the supreme court who is
7 serving as a justice of the supreme court pursuant to certification by
8 the administrative board of the courts in accordance with section one
9 hundred fourteen or one hundred fifteen of the judiciary law, or a hous-
10 ing judge of the civil court of the city of New York.
11 b. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, where a judge
12 or justice would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at
13 the time of such judge or justice's death and where such death occurs on
14 or after the effective date of this section, the beneficiary or benefi-
15 ciaries may elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which
16 shall be equal to the pension reserve that would have been established
17 had the member retired on the date of such judge or justice's death, or
18 the value of the death benefit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-
19 pay, if any, whichever is greater.
20 § 2. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new
21 section 508-d to read as follows:
22 § 508-d. Death benefits for state-paid judges and justices. a. As
23 used in this section, the term "judge or justice" shall mean a state-
24 paid judge or justice of the unified court system including a retired
25 judge of the court of appeals or retired justice of the supreme court
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02220-04-6
A. 10355 2
1 who is serving as a justice of the supreme court pursuant to certif-
2 ication by the administrative board of the courts in accordance with
3 section one hundred fourteen or one hundred fifteen of the judiciary
4 law, or a housing judge of the civil court of the city of New York.
5 b. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, where a judge
6 or justice would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at
7 the time of such judge or justice's death and where such death occurs on
8 or after the effective date of this section, the beneficiary or benefi-
9 ciaries may elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which
10 shall be equal to the pension reserve that would have been established
11 had the member retired on the date of such judge or justice's death, or
12 the value of the death benefit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-
13 pay, if any, whichever is greater.
14 § 3. The retirement and social security law is amended by adding a new
15 section 606-d to read as follows:
16 § 606-d. Death benefits for state-paid judges and justices. a. As
17 used in this section, the term "judge or justice" shall mean a state-
18 paid judge or justice of the unified court system including a retired
19 judge of the court of appeals or retired justice of the supreme court
20 who is serving as a justice of the supreme court pursuant to certif-
21 ication by the administrative board of the courts in accordance with
22 section one hundred fourteen or one hundred fifteen of the judiciary
23 law, or a housing judge of the civil court of the city of New York.
24 b. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, where a judge
25 or justice would have been entitled to a service retirement benefit at
26 the time of such judge or justice's death and where such death occurs on
27 or after the effective date of this section, the beneficiary or benefi-
28 ciaries may elect to receive, in a lump sum, an amount payable which
29 shall be equal to the pension reserve that would have been established
30 had the member retired on the date of such judge or justice's death, or
31 the value of the death benefit and the reserve-for-increased-take-home-
32 pay, if any, whichever is greater.
33 § 4. All past service costs associated with implementing the
34 provisions of this act shall be borne by the state of New York and may
35 be amortized over a period of ten years.
36 § 5. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, none
37 of the provisions of this act shall be subject to the appropriation
38 requirement of section 25 of the retirement and social security law.
39 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.
FISCAL NOTE.--Pursuant to Legislative Law, Section 50:
This bill would modify the in-service death benefit for retirement
eligible members of the New York State and Local Employees' Retirement
System (NYSLERS) who are employed as state-paid judges or justices of
the Unified Court System. The in-service death benefit will be the value
of the pension reserve as if the member had retired on their date of
death.
We estimate that the state of New York's annual contributions will
increase $310,000 beginning FYE 2027. Annual costs will vary but are
expected to average 0.1% of salary.
In addition, there will be an immediate past service cost of $4.17
million borne by the state of New York as a one-time payment. This cost
assumes that payment will be made on March 1, 2027. If the state of New
York elects to amortize this cost over 10 years, the cost for each year
will be $532,000.
A. 10355 3
These estimated costs are based on 1,261 affected members employed by
the state of New York, with annual salary of approximately $260 million
as of March 31, 2025.
Summary of relevant resources:
Membership data as of March 31, 2025 was used to measure the impact of
the bill, the same data used in the Actuarial Valuations dated April 1,
2025. Distributions and other statistics can be found in the 2025 Report
of the Actuary and the 2025 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. The
actuarial assumptions and methods used are described in the 2025 Annual
Report to the Comptroller on Actuarial Assumptions, and the Codes, Rules
and Regulations of the State of New York: Audit and Control. The fair
value of assets and GASB disclosures can be found in the 2025 Financial
Statements and Supplementary Information.
Assumptions, demographics, and other considerations may have been
modified to better reflect specific provisions of any proposed benefit
change(s).
This fiscal note does not constitute a legal opinion on the viability
of the bill, nor is it intended to serve as a substitute for the profes-
sional judgment of an attorney.
This estimate, dated February 23, 2026, and intended for use only
during the 2026 Legislative Session, is Fiscal Note Number 2026-125. As
Chief Actuary of the New York State and Local Retirement System
(NYSLRS), I, Aaron Schottin Young, hereby certify that this analysis
complies with applicable Actuarial Standards of Practice as well as the
Code of Professional Conduct and Qualification Standards for Actuaries
Issuing Statements of Actuarial Opinion of the American Academy of Actu-
aries, of which I am a member. I am a member of NYSLRS but do not
believe it impairs my objectivity.
